The Life of Lian Tse: From Ba Sing Se to Republic City
by Nyx Mystery
Summary: Lian is a street urchin living in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se. When she does a terrible deed, she runs away to Republic City to 'start anew'. 'Start anew? Yeah, right! Not with the triads running amok in the city...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello! I will be starting a new story project and I hope to finish it by the end of summer. Warning: though the story is set in Ba Sing Se and Republic City respectively, a large majority of the cast are my creation. The events happen during Toph's final year as Republic City's Chief of Police, between 141 AG and 142 AG. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: Legend of Korra. It belongs to the brilliant minds of Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino.

* * *

It was evening over the streets of the Lower Ring. A street vendor pushed his cart down the street, feeling weary after a day of selling rotting fish. Around him, children laughed, playing games, the women chatted prettily under the shade and old men rambled on over pai cho boards. It was an evening like the others, yet it felt..._weird_. In a good way, that is. But what made this evening feel so good? It was then, as he turned a corner onto Shuilan street, that it hit him. It was _peaceful. _There were no hoodlums hanging around in the alleyways, no fights in the middle of the streets and there wasn't a cop trying to chase a thief who had just purloined the richest looking guy on the block. Just plain, good old fashioned pe-

A shout erupted at the end of the street. Mr Vendor looked up just in time to see two young people run past him and vanish round the corner. Three huge, muscled men followed, looking bloodthirsty. In the distance, a fat guy screamed like a banshee, waving tubby arms in the air, " Get 'em! Don't let 'em get away! Skin 'em alive!" Mr Vendor sighed. Peace. Pfft, yeah right. Just a myth.

* * *

Lian burst through the mass with glee. People jumped out the way as she steamrolled her way like a bull. Behind her, she could hear her older brother Guo already panting with exhaustion. Weak potato. Further away, but growing louder over the angry voices of the inhabitants, were their pursuers. Lian threw a glance at them and grinned. They looked mad! Great! The angrier they were, the more exiting this chase would be.

"Guo! In front of me!"

His ears perked up at her call and he sped up, with her slowing down. Once he was directly in front on her, she unveiled a green pouch from the folds of her yi*. In one swift motion, she stuffed the pouch into a secret pocket inside her brother's garment and took out a lookalike. Once she was done, Guo took off vanishing down an alleyway whilst his sister ran off in the opposite direction, though she couldn't resist the temptation to wave the fake money bag at their chasers. The three men followed her, ignoring him completely. Smirking, she turned down another corner, sweating from the thrill of the chase. The utter calm of the evening destroyed, she led them into the cleaner parts of the Lower ring. Down winding paths and broken stairways, she led them on until she came to a dead end. Lian spun around to face the men.

"Hallo, men! Has your day been good?"

"Don't play with us, child!" snarled the first one, whom she aptly nicknamed Meat Chunk.

"Yeah, give us our master's money pouch and nobody gets hurt," said the second one, Brick Face.

"Who, me or you?"

Meat Chunk seemed ready to pound her, but Brick face held him back.

"Just give us the money and promise not to cause anymore trouble for the master and you can walk away from here freely and confidently."

Lian chose to ponder over it for a few moments. She seemed to relent as she sighed, reached into her yi and pulled out a dark green money bag. Somewhat reluctantly, she tossed it over to the men. Chunky picked it up and opened it. A hilarious look of disgust crossed his face as he stared into the bag. Brick Face grabbed it from him and his face grew dark as he viewed the contents of the pouch. Scowling, he emptied it in front of her. Bits of smashed rock and debris fell out and landed with soft thuds on the baked earth. At this, Lian burst out in mocking laughter.

"Ha, ha, ha! You should see your faces right now! You look so _confused_! Ha, ha!"

That seemed to be the final straw for the men. Meat Chunk roared as he sent a line of earth protrusions in her direction. Instictively, she readied a stance and raised a defensive wall. Her feet slid along the ground as she sent the same attack from behind her wall. Meat Chunk flew into the air and Lian bent a large rock smack in his stomach and he crashed into one of the crumbling steps that lined the compound they were in. Behind her came the telltale _crunch _as Brick Face compressed the dirt into tiny rock bullets, which she evaded them with ease. Once he was out of ammo, they encircled each other, stances ready.

"Oi! Liwei! Wake up and help me out!" Brick Face yelled at the third guy, who Lian dubbed Dozy-Four-Eyes, due to his thick-rimmed, grime-encrusted glasses (goggles, more like), and sleepy look.

Dozy-Four-Eyes snapped out of his stupor, revealed a pair of dao blades* from canted hilts strapped to his backs, yawned before breaking out into a ninja stealth run. Lian leapt backwards, but Dozy was too quick. She dodged his attacks, but couldn't land one herself;he was too quick. Distancing herself as further away as she could, she bent tiny stones onto her arms and legs, melding them together to create some limb protectors just before the glinting steel bore down on her. As the blades began to cut through her gauntlets*, Lian felt a distinct rumbling in the earth. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a crumbling grove winding its way towards her. Dozy couldn't see it;he was too busy trying to break her defenses. Lian waited until the grove was centimetres in front of her, before she grabbed Dozy's shoulder and threw herself over him. The attack sank the blade wielder into the earth chest high.

"Ugh! What is this!? Han! What d'you do!?" he yelled, squirming in the ground as he vainfully tried to free himself. Brick Face turned pink and tried to apologise.

"I-I'm sorry, Liwei! I didn't mean-"

"Watch out, idiot!"

Han was too slow. Slanted earth columns shoved him into the air and a slab of rock collided into him, sending him crashing, at a perpendicular angle, into a brick wall.

The fight was over.

Lian placed her hands at her waist and smirked over the men, one unconcious and one stuck in the ground, cursing and struggling. She was too good. What a weak bunch of fighters the bodyguards turned out to be. Stupid rich, fat guy, hiring imcompetent numbskulls to protect his lazy a-

Suddenly, something snaked around her foot and tightened. It crushed her ankle and cut into her naked skin. Gasping, she turned her head to look at her captor. It was Meat Chunk! Darn! She'd forgotten about him! He stood there panting, a large sore on his neck and an _enormous _boil atop his head. He smirked. Before she could retaliate, the earth vanished beneath her feet and the world spun and reeled. Then something smashed into her side cutting off her breath. A horrifying pain caught hold of her right side, pricking and burning. She couldn't move. Her ribcages cried for mercy. Her senses blurred and spluttered, murmurs floating in and out breezily and the universe grew darker until it turned black and the murmurs stopped.

* * *

Footsteps. That was the first thing Lian heard. Light danced into her eyes and she realised she could feel her legs again. But she couldn't move them. Choking, she blinked and looked around wildly. Her arms and legs were bound together and she was slung over someone's back. Her stomach jolted against their shoulder. For a moment, she couldn't remember why she was here. Then the memories came flooding back with a vengeance. Stealing from the fat guy, fighting off numbskulls, Meat Chunk capturing her. At the thought of Chunky, Lian began to flail desperately.

"Let me go! Let me go, you numbskulls! I'll call the police for child abuse! Let me go!"

"Shut up, child!" spat Meat Chunk; she recognised his voice.

"Should we silence her?" muttered a voice ahead of them. "I'm tired and I don't want to hear the voice of some snotty little halfpint."

"No," came another voice. "Master Chen didn't order us to kill the snots. Just to get back his money. But we could consider beating them up."

"You? Beat _me _up? Ha! I kicked your sorry butts in that fight! If Meat Chunk hadn't woken up, I'd have won!"

"You have weird names for us," yawned the first voice. "What name do _I _have?"

"Dozy-Four-Eyes."

"And Han?"

"He's called Brick Face."

"I pity your kids."

"Shut up!"

There was a silence after that.

"Why you guys even_ bothered _about your master's money? Guys like you don't seem very loyal."

"We aren't," muttered Meat Chunk bluntly. "The money you and your brother stole just happens to be our salary."

"..."

Brick Face gave a low whistle.

"It's the Master and-whoa."

"What?" Lian tried to twist her head to get a better look at what had caught Brick Face's attention. The fat guy was standing, sweat pouring down his face with a scared looking man in front of him. A pit of bodies lay in front of them, whether they were dead or alive, she couldn't tell. In the middle of the bodies, Guo stood poised with a somewhat tired look on his face. The money bag was nowhere in sight. For the first time in her life, Lian felt proud of her cowardly brother. So the weak potato _hadn't _abandoned her.

"Ah, Bohai, you're here with the rest of my men. Do you have the money?"

Meat Chunk growled and threw Lian off his shoulder. Her back hit the ground with a painful thud and her teeth chattered in her head.

"This girl doesn't have it. We suspected it might be the boy so we decided to return to you and wait while the rest of the bodyguards took care of him. Or so we thought."

He gave Guo a bitter glance. Guo shrugged.

"There were too many of them in my way. What else was I supposed to do?"

His sister opened her mouth to speak, but gasped as a heavy foot dug into her back.

"Ling, take the Master away," ordered Brick face calmly. The scared guard nodded, before guiding the fat idiot away from the scene. Once they were out of sight, "Brick Face returned his attention to the adolescent.

"Boy, hand over the money now," he spoke smoothly and clearly.

"Aren't you going to fight me?"

"We're tired and we don't have any time. Your sister gave us a scare not too long ago and if you take us down, you scamps will get away and we won't get our salary. We can't risk that." Guo scowled, but said nothing. From her viewpoint, she could see he was drained. Sweat ran down his chin and he was panting heavily. That didn't stop him from being an overwhelming foe though. After moments of irksome staring, Brick Face shot Chunky a meaningful look. A searing pain throbbed in Lian's brain as she was pulled up by her hair. She opened her mouth to protest, but her words died in the back of her throat as something cold and sharp caressed her neck. Fear wrapped itself around her, squeezing her tightly and numbing her limbs. Her eyes darted in their sockets as she threw a look at her brother. He was pale, unease scrawled boldly all over his face.

"Give us the money, _now,_" Brick Face's voice was low and menacing, the diplomatic demeanor lost. "We're tired of repeating of ourselves over and over. If you don't do as we say, we'll cut your sister's neck, and maybe your's too, and dump her body on the streets where her corpse will become the new host of flies*."

Guo was green now, glistening beads of sweat lining his upper lips and eyelids. The little fire in his weary spirits fizzled into tiny sparks. He was beggining to consent.

"No, Guo! Don't do it! Don't give them the money! Ugh...I can free myself!" The grip on her dark locks tightened and the dagger pressed deeper into her neck

"I'll give you five seconds to consider. 1.."

"G-Guo! Ack-I can-Ow!

"2..."

"Hurry up and hand it over!" bellowed Chunky.

"3..."

"Shut up, Chunky! G-OW!"

"4..."

The blade was almost piercing her skin.

"F-"

"Fine! Here you go!" He pulled a green purse and threw it at the men. Dozy caught it expertly and looked into it, before nodding at his fellow bodyguards to confirm that it was real. The dagger slid away from Lian's hurting throat and she was thrown (again) at her brother who caught her and began to unbind her. The bodyguards began to depart, but Meat Chunk couldn't resist one last threat.

"If I ever see you snots causing trouble for us again, I'll rip you apart with my bare hands! Got that!?"

"Y-Yes sir!" Guo spoke for both of them. Chunky nodded with satisfaction and followed his fellow bodyguards. Once they were out of sight and earshot, Lian pulled herself from her brother's arms and punched him in the jaw.

"You _idiot_! Why did you give them the money!? We needed that!" she yelled, the sudden frustration blinding her judgement. Her older sibling spluttered with disbelief.

"Lian, he was holding a _dagger _to your throat! What else was I supposed to do!? Please think ration-"

"I could have freed myself!" she spat angrily. "I was just about to get a grip on the earth! But you-_you..."_

"N-no, you couldn't..." Guo weakly tried to defend his opinion, but he was beggining to become unsure. Lian was riduculously strong and had broken herself out of worst fixes like these before. And even if he had been right to give back the money, she wouldn't listen. She was like that.

"You're just a coward! Weak potato! Dead shrimp!" She began to kick him, her long-nails digging into his side. Face hard like stone, eyes colder that the tundras of the South Pole, she punched the hindrance in her sorry life and ignored the tiny voice whispering otherwise.

* * *

When the sun had finally vanished beyond the horizon, Lian plucked up her severely beaten brother and pulled him towards 'home'. 'Home', if it could even be called that, was a slum closer to the Inner Wall, an infamous Jinu* street. Crumbling buildings framed the street on both sides,crammed into one another dangerously, with dirty washing lines strung across the houses. Civilians, a large number of them former refugees, were dotted about the street, some sleeping, some gambling and some arguing loudly. Somewhere in the distance, a baby wailed plaintively. Dim lights burned in the houses, and Lian's lips curled in disgust at the thought of what happened. It wasn't named Jinu for nothing. Guo suddenly ran from her side and settled himself on the side next to an old man, half lying, half sitting against one of the decaying buildings. Through the growing darkness, Lian caught sight of flies nestling on the man's face. They buzzed in his ear, gathered at his mouth and clustered around his eyes. Lian's stomach churned. Guo waved the flies away. His action revealed a withered face, with sagging lines, a cauliflower ear and a jagged nose, but it was his eyes that were truly repulsive. One eye was slightly bloodshot and swollen, the other had a _thick, meaty _gauze over it, completely obstructing the pupil, iris and whites of the eye*.

"Hello, Mr Xiaolu, how are you doing?" he spoke softly and clutched the gnarled hand of the dying man. Xiaolu made no legible reply, he could only mumble incoherently. His sister's face twisted further in a repulsed scowl.

"Come _away _from that hag, Guo. He's contagious."

Guo paid no heed to her warning and stayed by the man's side. Lian positioned herself further away, next to a steaming pile of ostrich horse dung, swatting away the flies. A long time ago, she would have been horrified at the thought of sitting on the streets surrounded by poo and poverty. She was used to it now, didn't mean she had to like it though. Glancing at her right, she found her brother already asleep, snuggled next to Xiaolu, who's red eyes stared into the gloom. The lights of the apartments gleamed brighter as the night grew stronger. Silence bled into her ears as she listened to the wheezing of the dung bettle and the flies. So quiet, yet so dangerous. The heat swelled and bubbled over, burning through her thin garments and making her hurting throat tighten with pain. As she lay gasping and coughing in the dark, Lian swore to herself that she would never grow up and die in the slums. She would leave Ba Sing Se, which had caused her too much pain, and run away to Republic City. It was her final thought as sleep seeped into her mind and the sweet numbness that accompanied it gently closed her eyes.

* * *

**A/N: **Meh. Not a bad chapter, I suppose. I didn't cut any corners or try to shorten it which I'm proud off. But the dialogue and the actual writing feel kinda stiff. They don't flow together well. Ah well. I really like the ending. Please review and tell me how I can I can improve my writing! Thank you!

**P.S: **My hatred for flies has grown whilst researching for this chapter. Who knew the things could be so harmful?!

* * *

Yi: An open cross-collar garment. It is one of the many components of a hanfu (traditional dress of the Han Chinese people).

Dao blades: Single edged Chinese swords, often called a broadsword due to its wide blades. Zuko uses a pair of them.

Gauntlets: Protective gloves used as form of armor.

Jinu: Means prostitute in Chinese. According to the internet.

"her corpse will become the new host of flies": Yes, flies _do_ nest in dead bodies and lay their eggs there. Eeewww...

"a _thick, meaty _gauze over it, completely obstructing the pupil, iris and whites of the eye": This is a description of a disease called _trachoma_. Spread and caused by flies and common in places where there's poor sanitation, crowded living, and a lack of water and toilets.I'm not too sure what the disease does to the eyelids as I've heard different descriptions from everywhere concerning the illness, so my description may be, quite possibly, incorrect.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Yay! I'm back with another chapter! Thanks to **LoveMeNever **and **DAve and Bob **for their great and helpful reviews, I really appreciate it. Enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: **Ba Sing Se belongs to Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino. I do own the idiot hero Lian and her ever weak(ish), brother Guo.

**Update: **It's been a while since I last worked on this story. I was having a lot of trouble with Chapter 3, so I decided to combine what I had done so far with the previous chapter, which, I realised had been way too short.

* * *

It was two weeks after the bodyguard incident and it had managed to become even hotter since then. The sun was a huge, gleaming ball of fire, raining scorching heatwaves onto the civilians of the Lower Ring. Vendors sighed in the wake of the heat, fanning themselves limply and waving away flies from their merchandise. In the distance, the world rippled and melted. The streets were empty; most people were in their homes, sleeping. This left an unnerving peace in the slums, particularly at Jinu Street, which was known for its violence. Lian gasped, sweat pouring down her face and neck. She sat in the shade of an awning, which she had chased a vendor from. Her grimy clothes clung to her skin uncomfortably and her toes ached in sunburn. Guo lay beside her. Pale, perspiring and shivering slightly, he was suffering from a horrible fever. Lian glowered at him.

"There! I told you shouldn't talk to the hag. Now you've caught a fever."

"M-Mr Xi-Xiaolu i-isn't ill w-with f-fever," he spluttered, before breaking out into a hacking cough. His sister snorted but said nothing more. In the baking heat, she couldn't bring herself to tear him apart with her tongue. Instead, she closed her eyes and let the warmth wash over her. Within her, her stomach writhed and clenched with hunger.

In a corner of the street, a gaggle of six boys appeared. Tattered and dusty, their dirty faces shone with mischief and their incessant giggling mildly disturbed the peace in the streets. But, when they saw the two siblings, the group hushed almost tentatively. One of the boys, a scrawny thing with dark skin and black hair, picked up a small and very sharp stone and launched it at Lian. The stone hit its target squarely in the side of her head. Snorting like pigs, they ran and squished themselves behind a doorway. With nervous excitement, they watched as she sat up, rubbed her head and looked around with confusion. Another boy picked up a rock, large and bulky, and hurled it at her, before ducking back into the safety of the doorway. They heard a soft thud accompanied by an angry 'oof!', and began to snigger triumphantly. Caught up in their delight, they did not notice the scarlet, fuming face of their enemy until it was too late.

"Which one of you threw that rock at my head!? You slime-bags!

The boys dispersed, terror written on their faces. One didn't make it though. He was pulled roughly from the group and met the fists of a raging Lian. Once he was down, she severely kicked him in the gut.

"Did you throw those stones at me!? Speak up, scum!"

"N-No, it wasn't me!" he gasped, wincing with every blow she made. Her foot suddenly stopped contact and the boy heard her retracing footsteps. Instantly he was on his feet, cringing with each step. He didn't get far. An earth column knocked him off his feet and sent his limp body smashing onto the ground. Chest, limbs and head aching, he tried to get up, but was smacked back down with a hard, wooden object. It was a huge thick stick, rounded, but with jagged ends. Lian wielded it with a murderous look on her face.

"Trying to run away from punishment!? You liar! Scumbag!"

"I wasn't ly-" he tried to protest, but the sentence died at the back of his throat as the second blow landed. More followed, each one more ferocious than the next. Lian saw red, oblivious to what she was actually doing. She was angry, angry at her life, at the world, at upper rings, at the Queen. Why couldn't life go back to the way it had been before?! When they'd had beds and clean water and _food?! _Looking after a weak brother as well as herself wasn't something she could do! She hated living like this. It was tiring and nerve-wracking and dangerous and frustration! She wanted out, now! Argh!

Eventually, the fog in Lian's mind cleared and a feeling of calm suddenly settled inside her. She pulled herself up and-

Crimson. A vivid crimson liquid was dotted about her palm. It wound a murky path over the stick in her hands and onto a face. Or what had been a face. The body was fearfully still, red splotches staining through the limp cloth adorning it. But the face was a brilliant scarlet. Whatever features it had had were crushed into a disturbing mixture of flesh and blood. Its mouth hung agape.

Lian's stomach dropped and constricted, tying itself into various knots. The offending stick clattered onto the earth and she stared at her hands in horror, reeling backwards onto the ground and squirming away from the decapitated apparition. By now people were starting to gather on the street, pointing, gasping with shock, staring, whispering in hushed scared voices.

And there was Guo. He had moved away from the shade, but was now crawling back towards it. A look of terrified fear and disgust was etched clearly across his face. It was a look one might give a serial killer. Her own brother was staring at her as though she was a murderer. What hurt more was that it was true. In her self-consumed rage, she had taken the life of an innocent boy.

Suddenly, a large hand clamped across her shoulder and she found herself staring into the grey-green eyes of a cop.

"Well," he boomed, "What have we here?"

Lian made no reply, instead she took hold of the man's arm and, with what little strength she had left, flung him over head into a blacksmith's workshop. Then she got up and ran.

Down deserted streets, crooked lanes and decaying alleyways she ran. Away from the havoc she had wrecked on herself, away from the smog of guilt that hung over it. Yet the smog grew and blinded her, and stumbled tumbling down into the darkness and the nightmares.

* * *

Lian awoke with a start. Saliva dribbled down a small corner from her mouth, which she wiped away hurriedly. Her body felt limp and weak. Groaning, she pushed herself up, joints creaking within her. A sudden pain pierced through her neck and back and she bit her lips in agony. Once she looked around, she saw why: she had fallen asleep on a group of steps neatly tucked between two buildings.

Wait, why was she asleep on a staircase?

Worry fluttered in her chest as she got to her feet and dragged herself down the stairwell.

The road was foreign, full of citizens milling around. The buildings were taller than those on Jinu street. Restaurant signs dangled over them and a pungent smell of _oil _filled the air.

Where was she and _why _was she here? Where was Guo and Mr Xiaolu? Where was the stench of dung and the annoying flies that accompanied it?

She looked around herself, feeling like a lost lamb far away from its mother and its herd in a dense forest, with the frightening possibility of wolves and bears. Suddenly, a chilling sensation plunged onto her hair, slithering down her neck and biting into her back. The pungent smell of sweat and grime. It slid into her eyes, temporarily blurring the world out. Lian sucked in her teeth in horrified shock. Someone had just dumped their dirty washing water on her. The nerve!

But with the chill of the liquid, came vivid memories of the night before: the blood, the body, its face marred beyond recognition, and the look of fear and condemnation on Guo's face.

It hurt, knowing your own brother saw you as a dangerous criminal.

All annoyance building up inside her fizzled out, and she staggered and sat back at the base of the steps, wiping away the cool water.

Where was she going to go? In this state, she had no right to return to Jinu. She didn't even know where she was! And as the world was a small place, getting smaller by the day, there was a chance, however slight, that she would run into someone from Jinu. She had no companion, she was hungry and wet, not to mention a murderer. Depressed, with all prospects in life turning bleak, she watched the motions of the people through her lowered lashes.

Republic City.

Those words struck her with the force of oiled lightening, and she started with sudden velocity. She could run away to Republic City! But almost instantly, the idea was lost in a pile of worries. She had no money to buy monorail tickets, and she couldn't sneak aboard; the Dai Li* were the cat-owls* of the cities, with their keen eyes and inhuman stealth. They were always lurking about the stations, ready to snatch people up and throw them in the dungeons. With those things in mind, Lian set aside her hope of running away to Republic City.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the slums of the Lower Ring. As she was too proud to ask anyone for help, she ended up far more lost than she had ever been. It wasn't even as though she _wanted _to return to Jinu. It was the only familiar place in the whole city. She and Guo had never ventured too far from the street, unlike some fellow street urchins who knew the Lower Ring like the back of their hands. As the sun began to melt under the horizon, Lian collapsed by a noodle shop, utterly exhausted. Gloomy thoughts began to cloud her mind.

What was she thinking? She couldn't return to Jinu and expect everything to be fine and dandy. But she didn't want to go to jail. Stuck in this impossible situation, 'Republic City' flittered into her head as it had done before. This time, though, she let it stay, and slowly a plan began to form in her head.

* * *

Morning arrived, with the sun blooming into the sky like a lotus in spring. The Lower Ring slowly came to life, its inhabitants gradually wandering out onto the streets. Lian watched the slums awaken with a weary look in her eyes. Her body, her head and her eyes throbbed with sleep deprivation and hunger. But she had made it! The platform was near-empty, with the odd cleaner doing a pitieous job in cleaning it. Disgusting characters were etched into the walls, most of them railing Queen Hou-Ting and her annoyingly unscrupulous Dai Li. Lian crumpled down beside one of the supporting pillars. The cleaner gave her a suspicious glance, but she paid him no attention. Her body felt weak and sluggish, as a result of travelling at night. The platform she was in was nearest to the Inner Wall, and carried passengers out of Ba Sing Se to the West Sea, which led her straight to Republic City. Very convinent. All she needed to do was board a carriage, preferably the cargo one, and sneak aboard a ship headed to Yue Bay, an inlet of Mo Ce Sea which connected Republic City to it. It was perfect.

In time, the platform became full of people, coming and going. Lian's eyes took note of the people that steered near her: a sharp-looking buisness man in a grey-green suit, a woman and her many children dressed in mouldy furs. Her eyes swept through the bustle and hustle of the commuters, trying to find an oppurtunity. At the side, with steely eyes and draped in dark green, were the Dai Li. The ominious aura radiating from their heavy clothing prevented people from approaching them. Lian tried to ignore them, with too much success, as sleep proved a great distraction from the threating figures dotted about the platform. It took several pinches to stop her from falling asleep. But with her patience came a reward. In the heat of the afternoon, the stage was finally set.

* * *

Koo stood on the outermost platform of the Lower Ring, perched right on the Inner Wall. His thick fur coat was beggining to suffocate him, and quietly he cursed his wife. Stupid fussy woman. Nagging at him to wear a jacket right in the middle of summer. Koo corrected himself quickly. It wasn't summer-it was autumn, but the universe clearly thought otherwise. Groaning, he set down his enormous suitcase and shrugged off his suit with a sigh. Suddenly a scuffle exploded at the core of the platform. It came from two men, rolling on the floor like sparring pygmy pumas*. Shouts and curses flew off the pillars and a small crowd of people began to flock round them. The Dai Li- weird things- left their posts, probably to break of the fight and throw the men in the dungeons. He rolled his eyes. What good was starting a fight with _them _around? Idiots.

"Hello sir, may I help you?"

Koo jumped. Looking around wildly, his eyes settled on a slender- looking girl, wearing a grubby yi and pants. Her hair was long, wild and matted and hung over her brown face like vines. Instantly Koo was on his guard, his emerald eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Help me how?"

"Your bag looks awfully heavy and you have a lot of other stuff to carry. I can carry the bag. I'm very strong!" Her voice was rough but eager and instantly, Koo felt pity for her, so young and so alone.

"Of course." He complied, ignoring the tiny voice reprimanding him for his actions. At that moment, the doors to the train swooshed open. Koo thanked the girl, who cheerfully skipped towards the baggage car attached on the end of the tram, and stepped in, praying that he would not regret his desicion.

* * *

**A/N: **What a short chapter. This one was simply to get the story moving along. Still, I like it better than the first, mostly because it was easier to write. I planned to expand it so we also see Lian actually leaves the city, but I was unsure on writing it. Hopefully the next chapter will be much longer. Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome, so please tell me how I can improve my writing. Thank you!

**: **Yay, I've finished updating this chapter! _Now _I can get to work on Chapter 3. Thank God!

* * *

Dai Li: In this story, Hou-Ting has come to power, so naturally the Dai Li follow. However, I'm not sure if Hou-Ting was crowned Queen before this period, as my story is set shortly after Suyin left her family to live with her grandparents.

Cat owl: Some creepy creation from the Avatarverse. It has the head of a cat and the body of an owl.

Pygmy Puma: A much more ordinary creature than the cat-owl, pygmy pumas are basically smaller versions of real pumas and are bred for compact city-living.


End file.
